Many of the processes that regulate male fertility are intricate and subfertility strikes hard against both couples trying to concieve and cattle farmers where the fertility of males used for artificial insemination is the single most important factor viewed in relative economic terms. A recently published study by Fagerlind and collegues showed that seven microRNA sequences differed significantly in expression between bulls with moderate and high fertility.
In order to study the effect these might have on fertility, a model organism is needed. The present study aim to assess if the fruit fly Drosophila Melanogaster could be used as such. It have served science for over a century, is cheap to grow and has a short generation time. A secondary objective of the present study was to elucidate if any of the observed microRNAs was expressed at a higher concentration at a specific life stage of the fly. Samples from eggs, the three larval stages and adult males and females were collected. Subsequently, after conversion into cDNA with primers for miR-34, miR-1249, miR-148b and miR-15b, the microRNA concentrations were evaluated with Quantitative Real-Time PCR. Three out of four microRNA sequenses showed expression in the fly and for one of them, miR-34, a marked difference in expression between the developmental stages could be observed, but not confirmed statistically due to the low number of samples. This result enables further studies on these sequences and their role in male fertility.